


Did You Love but Never Learn? (The Fire's Out but Still It Burns)

by Cosmic_Myths



Series: Let The Stars Guide You Home [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, No Incest, Not Season/Series 02 Compliant, Post-Season/Series 01, Road Trips, Sibling Bonding, except Ben is alive, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:14:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26908699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Myths/pseuds/Cosmic_Myths
Summary: “Something’s up with them.”“And what are you going to do about it?”“WE are going to spy on them. Obviously.”“Looks like we’ll be going on a family road trip after all. Yay!”Or, the Hargreeves siblings know something’s up with Ben and Vanya. They’re goal is to follow them on their trip to the west coast without being detected. Spoiler alert, they’re really bad at it.(Also, some things are unpacked, but it's alright in the end).
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Everyone & Everyone, The Hargreeves Family
Series: Let The Stars Guide You Home [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1917691
Comments: 2
Kudos: 70





	Did You Love but Never Learn? (The Fire's Out but Still It Burns)

**Author's Note:**

> Hahaha. This took so long to write. I got writers block a few times, and I was busy with school, so that was fun. It might not be the best, but I hope it's okay.
> 
> The first installment of the series is necessary to understand this, but the it's not necessary to have read the second installment. As usual, I recommend reading the second installment, and there might be one or two references, but ultimately it's up to you. 
> 
> The title is from the song "Flares" by The Script. 
> 
> I also realize I haven't done this yet, but incase it wasn't obvious, I do not own TUA in any way, shape, or form.

Klaus sends one last look to Ben and Vanya before he’s completely pulled away by Allison. He takes a glance at his siblings, but they seem equally as confused. Well, Five looks more annoyed, but Klaus is certain he has to be confused as well. 

They walk until they end up in Allison’s old room. She’s been living in it since the not-apocalypse. For a while, she debated going back to LA. In the end, she decided to move her therapy sessions to New York, and she only goes to LA for court. Of course, the situation may change when, or if, she gets some custody over Claire. 

Klaus’ eyes scan the room. It’s a bit lonely not having Ben with him everywhere, so he’s taken to distracting himself by paying attention to small details. In this case, Allison’s makeup kit is very intriguing. It reminds him of the times they’d use her make-up together as children. They’d paint each other’s nails and dance around in the academy skirts. 

“Klaus! Are you listening?” 

His head snaps to Allison. She has a whiteboard, he doesn’t know how she got it, though he's willing to bet it was from Five, and she’s already written something on it. It’s just two words. ‘The Plan’. Klaus thinks it’s quite ominous, but he’s not one to judge. 

“Everyone needs to be paying attention,” Allison continues.

“I’m listening!” Klaus says. 

Allison nods in satisfaction, checks to make sure everyone else is paying attention, and then turns her attention back to the bored. She begins drawing some sort of diagram, but at this point Klaus is very lost. 

“I’m sorry, what are we planning for?” He speaks up. 

“I second him. What are we talking about? God, tell me this isn’t our ‘family road trip,’” Diego says.

He’s leaning up against a wall and, of course, flipping a knife. He has a scowl on his face which Klaus is able to identify as his ‘I’m actually excited to spend time with my family but won’t admit it’ face. Klaus understands why Diego feels the need to hide his feelings from his family, it’s their father’s fault, but he wishes Diego would feel comfortable showing love. Then again, Klaus has issues with showing his  _ real  _ emotions as well, so he can’t really judge. 

“This isn’t about the road trip!” 

Diego’s posture slightly deflates, though Klaus isn’t sure if anyone else noticed, and he has to stop himself from giggling at the sight. Diego would not appreciate him revealing his secrets to their family. 

“This is about Ben and Vanya!” Allison exclaims. 

“Uh… what about them?” Luther asks. 

He’s standing in the corner looking very awkward. It’s not even his body physic that makes him seem awkward, it’s his face which looks completely lost. Klaus actually thinks he looks like a puppy who’s unsure where it’s owner is. 

“Something’s up with them,” Allison says urgently. 

Klaus frowns. He’d noticed the look Ben and Vanya shared before making the announcement that they’d be going a trip alone. It bothers Klaus more than it should. Obviously, Ben is allowed to get alone with their siblings, and obviously it’s reasonable that he’d want to take a break from Klaus after spending 13 years attached to him. Klaus just thought that  _ they’d  _ be the first of their family to go on a duo trip. 

Klaus shakes his head, thankfully no one seems to notice, in order to clear his head. He’s a bit disappointed, he’s not really sure anyone else would want to go on a trip with only him, but Ben deserves to hang out with their other siblings. Besides, Klaus has the perfect opportunity to hang out with his other siblings, and he could possibly even get closer to them. 

“And what are you going to do about it?” Five speaks up.

Klaus is mildly surprised that he spoke, but ultimately finds himself more interested in Allison’s answer. Knowing his family, it’s going to be something interesting, and Klaus has every intention of joining in. 

“ _ We _ are going to spy on them. Obviously,” She answers.

“Looks like we’ll be going on a family road trip after all. Yay!” Klaus exclaims while clapping his hands. 

Allison smiles at his antics, but Five looks absolutely repulsed at the thought of going on the road trip. Luther looks happy to go, but a bit wary. Klaus assumes it’s because they’ll be spying on their siblings. Diego scoffs and looks away, but he doesn’t openly object to the idea. 

“What’s the plan Alli?” Klaus asks. 

“Well, we’re going to follow them, and we’re going to find out why they suddenly want to go on a trip by themselves,” She explains as if it’s obvious. 

“We don’t know the route they're taking, nor do we know what their transportation will be. All we know is that they’re planning to be back in 5 weeks,” Diego says. 

Allison frowns as if she hadn’t thought of that. To be fair, Klaus hadn’t either. For a few seconds, there’s an awkward silence while they try to come up with an idea. Suddenly, Allison’s face lightens up. 

“We’ll just snoop around,” She says looking extremely pleased with herself. 

Diego opens his mouth, probably to argue, but is cut off by Five teleporting away. This leaves the room in another silence, though this time it’s a stunned silence, for a few minutes. Klaus shifts on his feet, unable to truly keep still, while his siblings debate whether or not they should wait to see if Five would come back. 

Thankfully, their questions are answered when the familiar sound of a spacial jump fills the space. Five reappears, and he returns with something, probably a map, in his hands. There’s also a note sticking out from the blazer pocket, but Klaus decides not to dwell on it. 

“Where did you go?” Allison asks. 

“East Wing,” Five explains before he shudders. 

Klaus is suddenly reminded of the time Five, Ben, and Vanya were in hysterics in the kitchen after asking their mom a question about the east wing. Klaus  _ really _ doesn’t want to unpack that right now. In fact, he doesn’t  _ ever _ want to unpack that. 

“I found their route, by the way,” Five continues. 

He hands the map over to Allison who quickly takes it. Klaus moves forward to peer over her shoulder, and he’s vaguely aware of their siblings doing the same. It’s a map of the United States, and the route is drawn in red ink. Different towns are circled, and the amount of time Ben and Vanya are planning on staying is written next to the circles. 

“When do we leave?” Luther asks. 

“As soon as Ben and Vanya leave,” Allison answers. 

“I’ll pack my things!” Klaus says. 

He snatches some of Allison’s nail polish on the way out, but he’ll probably give it back. He hears Allison sigh, but she doesn’t say anything, so Klaus thinks he’s okay. 

* * *

For everyone except Allison and Five, it’s their first time in the city of Chicago. While Luther, Diego, and Klaus were looking around the city, Allison and Five took it upon themselves to get a hotel room. It hadn’t been too difficult to learn when Ben and Vanya would be arriving in Chicago. After that, it was quite easy for Five to tail them. 

Which has led him and Allison to the hotel they’re staying in. Five’s looking around in case Ben or Vanya appear from their room while Allison tries to get them a hotel room next to Ben and Vanya’s. Five would like to think everything’s going well, but he already knows his family’s going to mess everything up. It’ll be a wonder if they last the entire trip without being noticed. 

“I heard a rumor, the room is booked by me.” 

Just as Allison says this, the elevator doors open and reveal Ben and Vanya. Five holds his breath and hopes they don’t notice him or Allison. He wants to warn Allison, but one thing his powers aren’t good for is stealth. Usually, he wouldn’t worry about it. As it is, the lobby is a small space, and he’s not sure the traffic outside will drown out the sound. 

Realizing he must do this the normal way, he begins to slowly inch towards Allison while keeping an eye on his siblings. He places a hand on her shoulder, and she instantly jumps. Five scowls and turns his head to Ben and Vanya, but they’re already in the process of walking out the door. He lets out a sigh of relief. 

“Five! You need to stop sneaking up on people,” Allison says. 

Five shrugs unapologetically and instead focuses on the keycard in Allison’s head. He snatches it from her, ignoring her outbursts, and begins walking to the elevator. He hears Allison huff from behind him, but when he looks over his shoulders she’s following him with the luggage. 

“At least help me carry this!” She yells. 

Five looks at the luggage she’s attempting, and failing, to carry. Both her and Klaus packed way too much, while he and Diego were able to pack only one backpack each. Luther had two duffels, but Klaus and Allison each had 3 suitcases and at least one other bag. 

“It’s your own fault for bringing so much stuff. Diego’s carrying his stuff around the city, and even Luther’s carrying one of his duffels, but both you and Klaus took so much,” Five says. “I suppose I can carry Luther’s other duffel.” 

Allison huffs again, being left with 6 suitcases, but Five pays her no mind. He waits by the elevator, and Allison soon returns with a luggage cart. She sends a thankful smile to a hotel attendant while Five enters the elevator. She wheels the cart in, effectively squishing Five against the side. 

“Oops,” She says in a tone that tells Five that’s exactly what she intended to do.

“Thanks,” He says sarcastically. 

He jumps to the front of the elevator with Allison, and she frowns at him. He gives her an ‘innocent’ smile.  _ (Actually, he tries to make it innocent. Instead it just looks absolutely terrifying. None of the Hargreeves will tell Five that, though. They don’t have a death wish).  _

“That’s cheating,” She accuses. 

“It’s  _ adapting _ ,” He says back.

She rolls her eyes, and the rest of the ride occurs in silence. It’s reminiscent of their childhood days. That being said, their childhood days were not very good, so it’s best not to dwell. They arrive shortly and walk to their room in complete silence. 

“Could you go teleport into Ben and Vanya’s room?” Allison asks after they’ve entered their own room. 

Five, who had been putting his stuff in the closet, turns to Allison. She’s rummaging around her suitcase for something, and she doesn’t turn to look at him. 

“Why?” He asks.

This time, she does look at him. She rolls her eyes, again, and takes a piece of paper out of her purse. She walks over to him and shoves it in his face. He frowns at the action, but he takes the paper nonetheless. It’s their numbered plan for the trip, and, at number one, the words ‘FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THEM’ is written out. 

“Right. I suppose that does entail snooping through their stuff,” He says. 

Allison looks absolutely offended for some reason. Five doesn’t pretend to fully understand his siblings—all he knows for certain is that they’re idiots, and that he loves them for some unknown reason—, but he’s a bit surprised by Allison’s reaction. It is, afterall, her plan. 

“It’s not  _ snooping.  _ It’s  _ investigating _ ,” She says. 

“Call it what you will, it serves the same purpose,” He replies.

She crosses her arms and looks away, but doesn’t verbally dismiss his words. Whatever semi-conversation they were having is cut off when Allison’s phone rings. She picks it up and quickly puts it on speaker. Five hears Klaus’ voice come from the phone and briefly wonders if they got into some sort of trouble. 

“And the man was thrown to the end of the alleyway! I think Di’s jealous because—”

“I’m not jealous!” 

“—Van took care of the criminal before he could. But she was really awesome with her powers and everything!” 

Five and Allison share a look which means they’re both not entirely sure what Klaus is saying. It’s a look that’s often been shared between the Hargreeves siblings. Thankfully, Allison has enough sense to ask Klaus to clarify. 

“I’m sorry, what happened?” She asks. 

“Vanya stopped a man from being mugged,” Luther says. 

Allison opens her mouth, closes it again, then begins chewing on her bottom lip. She looks around the room in thought. Five, for one, doesn’t want to hear their brothers yell on top of each other over the phone, so he quickly speaks up. 

“Go buy us some takeout. Allison will send you the address of the hotel and the room number. We’ll talk about whatever Vanya did during dinner,” He says. 

Then, he hangs up. 

Silence hangs in the air. 

“That went well,” Allison says. 

“This trip is going to be a nightmare,” Five replies. 

* * *

Currently in Salt Lake City, Diego and Klaus watch Ben and Vanya from the other side of the street. Diego munches on his fries while he watches Vanya and Ben laugh over something in the cafe they’re at. He turns to Klaus, only to find him holding his magazine upside down. 

“Seriously Klaus? That’s such a stupid mistake to make,” Diego says as he grabs the magezine from Klaus, turns it rightside up, and hands it back to him. 

“I’m too focused on watching our siblings. Besides, they’re not even looking in our direction,” Klaus says. 

Diego grumbles, but he can’t argue against what Klaus is saying. Personally, he thinks this entire spying thing is a waste of time. Sure, Ben and Vanya have some secret between them, but they all have secrets. If it was up to him, he’d just take the time to enjoy the trip and maybe stop crime as well. 

“Why do we even have to do this?” Diego voices his thoughts.

Klaus dramatically gasps, and Diego instantly resists the urge to roll his eyes. He knows Allison and Klaus were the most enthusiastic over the trip, but maybe it had been a mistake to ask Klaus for clarification. 

“Well, brother dearest, Benjamin and Van are obviously up to something. It’s our duty as siblings to pry into their stuff,” Klaus explains. 

This time, Diego does roll his eyes. He doesn’t reply to Klaus’ answer, and he instead focuses back onto the cafe across the street. Except Ben and Vanya aren’t there anymore. He doesn’t really care, but Allison will have his head if she finds out they lost them. Not to mention that, despite knowing they can handle themselves, he does want to look after them. He is a hero after all. 

“Christ on cracker! They’re gone!” Klaus yells from beside him. 

“Yes Klaus, I can see that,” Diego answers. 

Diego stands up, shoves a handful of fries in his mouth, throws the rest away, then grabs Klaus’ arm. Klaus protests slightly, saying he isn’t done with his milkshake, and Diego tells him to just drink it on the way.

“We have to catch up to them,” He says. 

“Or we could just go back to the hotel and wait until they return,” Klaus says back.

Diego turns to Klaus and raises an eyebrow. Klaus mimics the expression, and Diego has to fight back the smile that threatens to overtake him. 

“Do you want Allison to kill us both?” Diego asks. 

Klaus furrows his brow, looks into the distance, and pales. He shakes his head, and Diego grins. Diego moves his hand to Klau’s shoulder and squeezes. 

“Good. Now, where would they be?” 

They search for 3 hours. They get a total of 17 calls from Allison, and they ignore each and every one of them. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best idea. In fact, it probably just caused Allison to worry, but they were too scared to actually face Allison before finding Ben and Vanya. 

They’re efforts to avoid Allison’s wrath are for naught, however, as after 3 hours of searching, they give up. They walk back to the hotel room in stifling anxiety. It’s the type of anxiety that let’s Diego know he’d stutter if he tries to talk, so he just doesn’t. He plays with one of his knives and, even though people give him weird looks, it helps calm his nerves. 

Allison is waiting in the lobby. Her face is full of worry, and Diego wonders if it’s because of her maternal instincts, or if it’s because she’s always worried about them, even if she hadn’t shown it. 

She notices them, and relief floods into her face. She instantly stands up which causes Luther, who was sitting with her, to look up and notice as well. He quickly stands up and follows Allison in her walk over to her. 

She embraces Klaus first while Luther gives him an awkward shoulder pat. Diego awkwardly pats his arm in return. Then, Allison hugs him and he’s torn because part of him favors Luther’s awkward physical affection over a  _ hug _ , but another part of him wants to lean into said hug. As it turns out, he doesn’t have to decide, because Allison pulls away soon enough.

“We were so worried! You weren’t answering your calls, and then Ben and Vanya came back for about 30 minutes before leaving, but we still had no contact!” She rushes it all out in practically one breath. 

He’s not entirely sure how to react to that. He’d been worried she’d be mad at them, but instead they made her worry, and Diego knows that’s infinite times worse than her being angry. It’s still a bit hard for him to accept, but everyone in this family loves each other. It’s an odd concept—realising he’s not the only one in the family that cares. Not that  _ he  _ cares, of course. He’s way too macho for that.  _ (News flash. He cares. A lot). _

Part of him, a big part, wants to make sure she’s okay. He wants to assure her that they’re fine and that nothing happened, but he’s still a Hargreeves. As a Hargreeves, he is still very bad at processing emotions, so he deflects instead.

“Where’s Five?” 

“We sent him to look for you,” Luther answers in Allison’s stead. 

Well. That does  _ not  _ help take Diego’s mind off his worried siblings. By the end of this trip, his reputation is going to be completely decimated. He really should’ve just stayed home. 

“Nothing to fear here, sister dearest. Diego and I just got a bit lost. And by a bit I lost I mean we may have actually lost Ben and Vanya, but you probably already know that since you saw them earlier. Funny that, huh?” 

Diego barely catches Klaus’ words. Half the time, he speaks as fast a bullet. It suits his personality, but it can be hard to follow. As kids, they’d seemed like complete opposites to Diego. Klaus never had trouble filling the space with words while Diego struggled to get a single sentence out. As kids, Diego was in a constant competition with his siblings, but Klaus never let their numbers get in the way of things. 

Today’s a different story. Now, Diego understands they were both crippling and folding under their father’s expectations. The entire family had their father’s expectations weighing them down; they just broke in different ways. Klaus fell into drugs. He completely lost himself in the high and ignored his problems. Diego went to anger. He tried to completely separate himself from his old life, and he’d get angry when it didn’t work. 

It’s okay though. Now, his biggest problem is the fact that Allison is most definitely going to yell at him after hearing the new information obtained via Klaus. He debated making a run for it, but Allison would most definitely find a way to subdue him. 

“So you lost them, and then decided not to answer any of our calls? What made you think that was the logical course of action?!” Allison says in a loud tone of voice that isn’t  _ quite _ shouting. 

Diego’s pretty sure he hears Klaus mumble something along the lines of ‘not our fault Ben has the last brain cell’, but he ignores it in favor of trying to defend himself. 

“We had it covered. We didn’t need to worry you with the information that we lost track of them,” He explains easily. 

“We’re a family, Diego. We need to do things together,” Allison says. 

“I have an idea,” Klaus exclaims while clapping his hands together to gather everyone’s attention. 

“We should talk about this family stuff over a board game. All we’d have to do is buy one!” He continues. 

Diego glances at both Allison and Luther. They both shrug, so he takes it as a yes. He nods to Klaus, and Klaus practically explodes with delight. Allison laughs at his antics, and even Luther chuckles. 

“I’ll call Five,” Allison says. 

“Assuming he even remembers how to use a phone,” Diego retorts. 

She pushes him playfully and tries to send him a dirty look. He smirks at the response. There’s a few moments of silence, and then he offers to go out and buy a board game. It’s a truce, an apology for earlier, and Allison seems to understand that. She smiles and thanks him, and maybe Diego could get used to this family thing. 

His mind comes to a stop at the thought. 

Nope, too emotional for him. 

He goes off to buy the board game with a quick ‘see ya soon’, and pushes all sentimental thoughts from his mind.  _ (Well, they never truly leave, but the others don’t need to know that).  _

* * *

The game is a disaster. 

Honestly, it should’ve been expected. Monopoly causes complete chaos in normal families. Trying to get the Hargreeves to play it, none of whom have  _ actually _ played it before, is a recipe for heartache, screaming, property damage, and potentially another apocalypse. 

Allison and Five fought over who would be the banker for at least 30 minutes. Eventually, Allison was able to win by bribing Five with coffee. The problems don’t end there though. Klaus has been accused of stealing at least 8 times, Diego keeps trying to one-up Luther, and Luther barely understands the goal of the game. Not to mention they get into arguments every 5 minutes. 

“Klaus and I are teaming up,” Five announces. 

Allison frowns. She shares a look with Diego, and she instantly knows neither of them like the idea of their siblings teaming up against them. Though Allison must admit, she’s very confused as to why Five would decide to team up with Klaus. Allison imagines that their methods for winning would be very different. 

“Team-ups aren’t allowed,” Diego says. 

“Besides. Why do you even want to team-up?” Allison asks. 

She crosses her arms, and fixes a disbelieving look to Five and Klaus. Klaus smiles in a way that would be innocent to strangers, but Allison knows that it’s not. Five smirks in a way that means he has a plan, and, honestly, it slightly concerns Allison. 

“I believe it will be more beneficial to both parties,” Five states. 

“Doesn’t matter. No teaming up,” Diego says again. 

Allison can’t help but agree. It would be unfair for two people to team up and leave the others on their own. They have an odd amount of people, so it’s not like they could have multiple teams of two to make it fair. So, no, she will not allow teaming up. 

Sadly, by the time she opens her mouth to share her flawless logic, the room has descended into chaos. She’s not sure how it happened in the few seconds when she was lost in her thoughts, but the next thing she knows Klaus is pinned to the hotel wall, Five is staring at his spilt coffee in shock, and Luther holds the now broken monopoly board while Diego glares daggers at him. 

For a moment everything is silent. 

Then all hell breaks loose. 

“I JUST PAID FOR THAT ASSHOLE!” 

“CAN SOMEONE LET ME DOWN?” 

“WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKERS SPILT MY COFFEE?!” 

“That was me. My bad.” 

“YOU’RE DEAD LUTHER!” 

“GET IN LINE! I CALL DIBS ON KILLING HIM FIRST!” 

“CAN SOMEONE  **_PLEASE_ ** LET ME DOWN?!” 

They scream on top of each other, and Allison can’t even tell who’s talking at this point because they’re all shouting and making angry hand gestures, and honestly they could all be saying the same thing for all she knows. For a moment, Allison thinks they’re really lucky that Ben and Vanya aren’t in the hotel because they would have been discovered instantly if they had been. Sadly, that doesn’t stop the noise from grating on Allison’s ears. It doesn’t stop noise complaints either. 

The phone lets out a shrill ring, but it causes 3 rings for everyone to finally notice. Allison glares at her siblings, and picks up the phone. 

“Hello?” She asks sweetly. 

She gestures for her siblings to begin cleaning everything up while she listens to what the hotel receptionist has to say. She can tell her brothers want to start fighting again, but she silences them with a stern look. 

“Hello ma’am. I’m afraid there have been several noise complaints about shouting coming from your room. First I must ask you to keep it down, otherwise there will be consequences. Secondly, is everything okay up there?” 

Allison bites back the rumor threatening to spill from her lips. It would be so easy to make the hotel forget that it happened, but it wouldn’t do anyone good. Allison was raised to use her powers whenever she wanted to, but now she’s learning that her rumors aren’t everything. 

“Everything is fine, thank you for your concern. I promise we’ll keep the noise down,” She says, directing the last words at her siblings, who suddenly find every part of the room more interesting than looking at her. 

“Alright. Thank you for your cooperation.” 

The line goes dead. 

Allison takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. It would  _ not  _ be a good idea to yell at her brothers right after they’d gotten a noise warning. This means she, once again, must be the mature one in the family. 

“Can one of you let me down now?” Klaus’ small voice says. 

Allison turns her head, and she sees that he’s still pinned to the wall with Diego’s knife. She gestures for Diego to get Klaus down, and he reluctantly does. Five is— Five has disappeared. Most likely to get a cup of coffee, but Allison does want to talk to him later. 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to break the board,” Luther says. 

Allison sighs. She walks over and places a hand on Luther’s shoulder, and then she gives him a reassuring smile. 

“We are never playing a board game again,” She says. 

Klaus laughs, and soon everyone is laughing. If all board game fights were to end like this, then maybe Allison wouldn’t mind them playing more. 

* * *

At this point, Luther isn’t even sure how they got the van. All he knows is that when they found out Ben and Vanya were planning on taking a bus to their final destination, they decided they needed a car because it would’ve been too risky to get in the same bus. 

All he really knows is that Klaus said he got it covered, and then he proceeded to drag Five off while he was left in the hotel room with Diego and Allison. To put it lightly, it was awkward. In fact, it was so awkward that when Klaus and Five returned with the van, it seemed like a gift from God. 

Then, Luther was soon reminded that God, in fact, was a bitch. At least, according to Klaus, but he had met her so he has some credibility.  _ (And didn’t that hurt to think about? Luther let his brother  _ **_die_ ** _ and didn’t even notice until said brother told him).  _

The car Klaus and Five brought back was a van with very bright spray-paint on the doors. It looks like it’d be impractical for stealth, but seeing as Five hasn’t complained, Luther thinks that it’s probably fine. Diego and Allison, however, seem to disagree. 

“We’d be noticed instantly,” Allison says. Her arms are crossed, and she’s looking over the van in such a critical way that one would think she was criticising Diego’s wardrobe. 

“She’s right. It stands out too much,” Diego says. 

Luther focuses on Five. No matter what his other siblings say, he knows that Five probably has the most experience in stealth. Afterall, he was an assassin. 

“Five? What do you think?” 

Five smiles at him as if he’s stupid, and Luther has to stop himself from looking away. It’s a look he hates, and he knows the entire family hates it too. Sadly, everyone other than Vanya has been subjugated to that look numerous times. 

Five never gives him an answer. He waits patiently as Five continues to drink his coffee, and by the time Luther begins to realise that maybe the smile  _ was _ the answer, the conversation has already moved on. 

Diego and Allison still seem opposed to the idea, but Klaus can be very persuasive when he wants to be. Luther figures that’s what’s happened, and he knows that the van is exactly what they’ll be going in. 

“I don’t know how to drive,” He speaks suddenly, just for the purpose of trying to integrate himself back into the conversation. 

Klaus shrugs as if it’s no big deal, and maybe it isn’t, but he’s a bit worried Diego will make a jab at him for not being able to drive. Luther holds his breath as Diego looks at him with a thoughtful expression, but the sharp words never come. Diego just turns away and grabs a knife to fidget with. 

“Maybe I c-could t-teach you some-sometime,” He suggests. 

The small reappearance of Diego’s stutter tells Luther the words come from raw emotion. Luther almost says ‘okay’ just because of that, but he hesitates. He honestly doesn’t know if he’d ever be able to drive. His unusual figure makes it harder for him to even be comfortable in a car. He’s not sure he’d be able to drive. 

Subconsciously, he hunches his shoulders. He’s curling in on himself in an attempt to seem smaller. He’s trying to divert attention away from him, and he’s trying to make sure people don’t notice his abnormal proportions. 

Five notices.

Five always notices. 

“I’ve been busy trying to figure out why I’m not ageing,” Five begins. 

The sentence is so shocking that Luther almost misses the next thing Five says because surely Luther heard him wrong. A quick look to their other siblings tells him that, nope, he did not hear him wrong. It’s just yet another thing Five neglected to tell them. 

“But remind me to work on getting you a normal body when we get back,” Five finishes. 

Luther swallows down his emotions and nods. Ever since the mission, he’s wanted to have a normal body again. The idea of a new body being made, or at least part of it, reminds him a bit too much of what happened the first time. The thought of altercations being made to his body leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, but this time it will be consensual. This time, if it happens, it’ll be something  _ he  _ wants, and that thought makes it a bit better.

“Thank you,” He says hoarsely. 

Five gives him a genuine smile, and for a moment Luther’s struck by how similar their smiles can be when they’re genuine. It must be a twin thing. 

“You’re welcome.” 

* * *

“Wait. You knew we were following you the entire time?!” 

Vanya restrains herself from rolling her eyes, but she allows herself to sigh. She loves her family, but ever since she’d gone off her medication, she’s realised what idiots they are. They’re good idiots, and she loves them, but they’re still idiots. She’s already told them that she and Ben noticed, but they still haven’t gotten it. 

“For the 4th time, yes.” 

She crosses her arms and sits down on the couch as she awaits a response. After their meeting at the beach, they’d all come back to where Ben and Vanya were staying in order to change out of their wet clothing. 

Allison, who’s sitting next to Vanya, shuffles slightly. Vanya looks at her from the corner of her eye, and she can tell her sister is contemplating speaking. Silence is a hard thing to go through, even if Vanya doesn’t exactly know why this simple revelation is causing such a silence. 

“Sorry,” Allison says as she sits up a bit straighter. 

She looks around the room, her eyes moving from person to person, before eventually landing on Vanya. Allison’s face morphs into one of remorse. It’s not pity or anything like it, a fact Vanya is grateful for, but just genuine remorse at going behind their backs. 

“It was very obvious.” 

Vanya turns to the kitchen where Five is drinking (another) coffee. He looks at them from over the counter for a brief moment before tearing his gaze away to continue writing some sort of equation in his notebook. 

Vanya’s siblings look shocked that he knew. He, obviously, didn’t tell them which is just to be expected from Five. Vanya smiles at the familiarity. Even as kids, Five would figure things out faster than the rest of them, and then he’d withhold the information until everyone figured it out. 

“Yet you allowed us to continue spying on them for no reason?” Diego questions. 

He pulls out a knife, and it’s not in a threatening way, but Vanya’s still worried he’s still going to start carving the wood of the table. It’s a nervous habit of his, and, while Vanya normally wouldn’t mind, the table doesn’t belong to them. 

“You seemed to be enjoying it,” Five says. 

Vanya chuckles, but quickly tries to cover it up. Ben, who’s also sitting at the table with Diego and Klaus, notices, and raises an eyebrow at her. She chuckles again, and this time she earns a fond head shake from her brother, as well as odd looks from the rest of her siblings. 

“Why did you even decide to spy on us in the first place?” Ben asks. 

Vanya perks up at the question. She’s been wondering that for weeks—ever since she and Ben noticed their family was  ~~ stalking ~~ following them. All her siblings instantly go quiet at this which is the first sign that something’s wrong. The Hargreeves are  _ never  _ this quiet. 

The seconds tick by, and the sound begins to reverberate in Vanya’s mind. No one’s talking, and the sound begins to grate on Vanya’s nerves. It fills up her entire being; she can practically feel the sound moving beneath her skin, and, as her vision fades to white, it’s all she can focus on. 

The clock explodes and glass flies everywhere. She jumps at the noise, and all her siblings look between her and the clock in panic. She takes a deep breath, looks at the broken glass mournfully, and stands up to get a broom. As she’s calmly sweeping up the glass, Five speaks up. 

“We, well, it was more them than me, wanted to know why you went on this trip. You were acting secretive.” 

Vanya freezes. Ben’s breath hitches. Five thrums his fingers against the counter, and Vanya has to make a conscious effort to make sure she doesn’t break  _ another  _ object that doesn’t belong to them. 

“I know why, by the way,” He continues. 

Her siblings all look at Five. Vanya isn’t surprised Five found out, she and Ben left the plan under the loose floorboard in the library specifically for him, but it’s still nice to see he hasn’t told their siblings. Vanya knows it shouldn’t be so shocking, Five is loyal above all else, but sometimes it’s hard to understand the Five that came back to them. 

“You knew and didn’t tell us?” 

Klaus brings his hands up to his heart as if he’s been physically wounded by Five’s revelation. It does nothing to clear the tense atmosphere, but it’s still a very Klaus thing to do, and that fact alone is comforting to Vanya. 

“It’s not my place to tell,” Five responds in a voice so quiet that she didn’t even know he was capable of making that tone. 

Vanya pauses for a moment, then she continues sweeping up the glass. Once she’s done, she heads to the kitchen to throw it out, but she can feel the eyes trained on her back. She takes a deep breath, and goes to stand by Ben at the table. 

  
They share a look. 

They both know that they have to tell their siblings. The idea of telling them still makes Vanya panic because it’s been a close guarded secret for half of her life. She knows the truth is going to hurt, it’s going to hurt her siblings, but all relationships are built on trust. They need to be honest about this. 

“When we were 16, Ben and I planned on running away,” Vanya says. 

She feels like she can’t breathe. The anxiety has wormed its way into her throat, and it feels like she can’t breathe. Her hands twitch; it’s an automatic response. Her body aches for a pill, and she forcefully shoves that yearning to the side. 

Diego snorts. Klaus laughs. Allison rolls her eyes, and Luther seems slightly confused. It’s a shocking reaction. Vanya had expected at least some shouting because she and Ben were going to leave them behind in that hell-hole. From the look on Ben’s face, he’s equally confused by the reaction. 

“Weren’t we all?” Diego says. 

“Is that really what all this secretiveness was about? We all dreamed of getting out that house,” Klaus says. 

Vanya’s hit with the realisation that they don’t understand. They think it was just another dream of wanting to get out. They think it was just one of the passing comments that they told each other throughout the day, but it’s  _ not.  _

“You don’t understand,” Ben says. 

His voice is quiet, but it catches everyone’s attention. Ben’s always been able to do that. He’s always been able to pull the focus onto him no matter how quiet he is because, no matter what, the siblings have always held some level of respect for him. 

“We grew up there too. I think we understand,” Diego says with a scoff and a sour expression. The mention of their childhood home, back when it was ruled by their father, has always set him on edge. It sets everyone on edge, but Diego always translates uncomfortable emotions into anger and annoyance. 

“We were going to leave the night Ben died,” Vanya says. 

It’s a bit blunt, especially throwing Ben’s death in, but she figures it’s easier to rip the bandaid off quickly. Her entire family, other than Five, look confused. They don’t seem to really process the weight behind Vanya’s words. That is, until Allison’s face slowly morphs into one of understanding. 

“That’s why you played violin on the street corner,” She whispers. 

Vanya nods and watches as Klaus’ face also morphs into one of realisation. There’s a flicker of hurt on his face, and he looks at her with an unreadable expression. It makes her uncomfortable, so she keeps reminding herself that her siblings  _ needed  _ to know. 

“That’s what those packs were for. You really were prepared, weren’t you?” 

There’s a slight bitterness in his voice, not that Vanya can blame him, and it’s his words that seem to make everything click for Diego. He looks at the two of them with shock and betrayal, and Vanya knows that a fight is about to happen. 

The chair screeches as he stands up, and it’s so loud that Vanya wants to cover her ears. It’s louder because of her super hearing, and she wonders if he did it on purpose or if it was just a side-effect of him practically jumping out of his chair. 

“Y-you w-w-were g-going to l-l-l-leave us in that p-place,” He spits out angrily. 

Vanya barely suppresses a flinch. The stutter lets her know that this information has really impacted Diego, and she has to close her eyes and turn away because the tears are already stinging her eyes. She nods as she hears Ben answer with a ‘yes’. 

“Bullshit!” 

There’s a loud crash, and Vanya instinctively opens her eyes to investigate the noise. A vase, which has previously been sitting atop the dining table, is shattered on the floor. Vanya sighs. She had been naive to believe that they could get through this without destroying the rental home. 

“Diego, calm down,” Allison says, but even as she does, she has a look of betrayal etched into her face which is directed toward Ben and Vanya. 

“Calm down? They w-were g-g-g-oing to leave us b-behind!” Diego growls. 

“I agree with Diego!” Klaus contributes. 

From the growing tension in the room, Vanya can tell it’s going to become a shouting match if someone doesn’t intervene soon. She wants to say something, but she doesn’t want to make things worse. What if she says the wrong thing? What if she causes the peace they’ve found with each other to shatter? 

Someone nudges her arm. She turns and finds Ben giving her a comforting look. She doesn’t know how he manages to do it, but at that moment he looks so strong compared to Vanya. She reaches for his hand and squeezes. It makes things a bit better. 

“We were kids,” Ben says. 

Once again, everyone turns their focus onto Ben. His smile is a bit more strained, and his heart is beating erratically, but he still manages to silence the room. He squeezes her hand and let’s go. 

“We were kids caught up in our own trauma,” Ben continues. “Not all of us were close as kids, so when Vanya and I found a way out, we were going to take it. It doesn’t make it right, but we didn’t know any better.” 

His eyes are wet with unshed tears, and his voice has been reduced to a hoarse whisper full of raw guilt. 

“I’m sorry,” He says. 

The silence is deafening. It’s not really silence, at least not to Vanya, because she can still hear everyone’s heartbeat, their steady breath, the light tapping of fingers on wood, and if she goes deeper she can hear numerous sounds from the outside world. Nonetheless, the silence that has befallen them is deafening, and Vanya isn’t really sure how they’ll react. 

“I’m sorry too,” She starts. “I was so busy with my own trauma that I didn’t  _ really  _ understand how much you were hurting. I just wanted to get out, and I guess I just assumed everyone else would be fine. I was a broken child who didn’t know any better. I’m really sorry.” 

For a moment, Vanya fears it’s already too late. She fears that their words of apology have come too late and will be lost to the abyss as anger, betrayal, and sorrow take its place in their sibling’s minds. Then Diego sits back down, and Klaus wipes his eyes with a slightly broken smile, and Allison and Five look at each other, and Allison snorts, and Luther smiles encouragingly at her, and Vanya thinks maybe they’ll be okay. 

“It’s in the past now. There’s a lot of things that could’ve happened. The important thing is that we’re here together,” Five says. 

Vanya wipes away the tears forming in her eyes and walks over to Five. She smiles then holds her arms out, and Five’s face instantly morphs into panic as he realises what she’s doing. She wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly. 

“Vanya! No!” He says. 

“Group Hug!!” Klaus exclaims. 

He jumps on top of both of them which causes Vanya to smile. Allison and Ben join the hug next. Diego joins the hug soon after, and Luther wraps his arms around all of them. They all show varying levels of joy, and even Five, who claimed not to want the hug, is content to stay with his siblings. 

* * *

Ben watches as his siblings retire for the night. Vanya and Allison are sharing a room with Five crashing on an air mattress, and the ‘Even Numbers Club’ are sharing the other room. Luther’s decided to sleep on the couch which also turned out to be a pull-out bed. That was a fun surprise. 

Allison practically drags Five into the room, intent on making sure Five got some sleep, and Diego was currently taking a shower. This left Luther getting comfortable in his bed, Klaus doodling something on a pad of paper at the table, and Vanya cleaning up the dishes after their late dinner. 

Ben walks over to Klaus and takes a seat next to him. Klaus looks up for a brief moment, grins, and leans against him. Ben smiles at the contact and peers over Klaus’ head to look at the drawing. 

It’s a doodle of a crow in a dark forest. The trees are skinny and tall, and shadows seem to creep over every inch of the paper. The crow is probably the most detailed part of the sketch. 

“I like it,” Ben says truthfully. 

“Why danke,” Klaus replies. 

They sit in silence for a few more moments. Ben closes his eyes, he’s very tired after the day they just had, and focuses on the sound of pencil on paper. The presence of Klaus is very calming to Ben, and he almost falls asleep just because of that. 

“Klaus?” He mumbles tiredly. 

“Yeah?” Comes the reply. 

There’s a few more seconds of pencil on paper before it stops. Klaus shifts slightly, so Ben assumes he’s finished the drawing. 

“I’m sorry we were going to leave you behind. I didn’t know what you were going through at the time.” Ben yawns at the end of the sentence. 

Klaus completely shifts his position which causes Ben to have to quickly sit up to avoid falling. The action alone wakes Ben up, and he lightly glares at Klaus for it. Klaus just shrugs unapologetically and throws an arm around Ben. 

“You didn’t know. Besides! As Fivey said earlier, what matters is that we’re here now.” 

Ben hums in agreement to Klaus’ sentence. The ticking of the clock is slightly off due to Vanya breaking it earlier, and it just adds to the overall atmosphere of the room. Eventually Klaus stands up and ruffles Ben’s hair, causing Ben to scrunch up his nose in discomfort. 

“I’m going to the room. You better get some sleep soon Benjamin!” 

Then he’s gone. It’s just Luther, Vanya, and Ben himself left in the main area. Vanya, who’s finished with the dishes, looks over at him before nodding her head toward the door that leads to the deck. Ben nods, and together they open the door and step onto the deck. 

The sound of the waves and the salty ocean air greets them the moment they step outside. The stars shine brightly above them. They’re brighter than they would be in the city, and Ben takes a moment to just admire them. 

“I’m glad we came here,” Vanya says from beside him. 

“Me too,” He says. 

He nudges her shoulder before grabbing her hand. She smiles softly, but her gaze is focused on the stars. He follows her example, and for a while they just stare at the sky in silence. They don’t speak, but a fundamental part of their relationship as children was built upon their ability to connect through silence. 

The door sliding open further is the first sign that someone has joined them. The second sign, or course, is Klaus loudly exclaiming “Vanya! Tomorrow you and I are going to have a talk about you killing off the best character in your book!” 

As quickly as he came, he disappears. Vanya looks at the door, where Klaus had previously been, in confusion. Then she lets out a laugh. Not a humorous laugh, but a ‘what the hell just happened’ laugh. Ben laughs with her. 

“That was random,” She says. 

Ben shrugs. “That’s Klaus for you.” 

She snorts. 

“True.” 

She looks back up at the stars, and for a moment silence descends upon them once more. For a moment, it’s just him, Vanya, and the stars, and the world seems to slow around them. 

“Ben,” Vanya starts. “Look up there.” 

She points, and Ben follows her directions to the stars above them. 

“I think we’ve reached the end of the path. I think the stars have finally guided us home,” She says softly. From the way she says it, he can tell she’s slightly sleep deprived, but her words still seem genuine. 

  
_ Yeah,  _ he thinks as he listens to the distant sound of arguing between Klaus and Diego, and as he listens to the faint sound of Allison pushing Five to sleep.  _ We’re finally home.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm planning for 2 more installments for this series. The next one will be focused around Vanya and Jess with Ben showing up a lot. 
> 
> Hope you liked this!


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